Skip to main content

Wednesday... Yes, both can be so true!


Wednesday... Yes, both can be so true.

Now I could as an individual who is writing tell you how to face your day but just because I face it one way doesn't mean that that is the way for you to face it. And the unique way that God made us is shown here is Psalm 3. 

King David is writing this Psalm as he is fleeing from his son, Absalom. And that in so many different ways would not be a time to be happy, to be positive and to have a smile on our face. I mean, it is his son that is wanting to kill him.

David in verses 1-2 (NLT) says, "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, 'God will never rescue him!" And in what you are facing at the beginning of this new year that may be what you are saying. And it's ok.

Now as I set down to write this morning I had a deep feeling of gratitude for what kind of life I am facing. I was emotional about God's goodness in my life but I don't have a son that is trying to kill me. I am not facing what you are facing today, whatever that is. So you may have the right to say, "Lord, I have so many enemies." Life can really be so very rough. Yes, you may it seems have so many enemies, so many that are against you. That may be very real in your life.

But then David changed his focus. In verses 3-4 he says, "But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high, I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain."

Now God knows us. He created us. He knows how we face difficulties. And he wants us to be honest and accept who we are. 

But look at this. So many people only have the ability to see their enemies because they don't have a relationship with one who allows us to be discouraged and overcome with struggles and trials and for some a whole lot of enemies around them but they also know that they have a relationship with someone they can turn to, who is a shield around then and to whom they can call out to. And that fact can make what we are facing bearable. Yes, the enemies are still there, the problems that are unbearable are still there but there is also someone who is by our side who is shielding us and who can handle whatever it is we are facing. 

And then David said in verses 5-6, "I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side."

He then ends this Psalm in verse 8 by saying, "Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people." The NIV says it this ways, "From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people."

That could be a fact that we need to carry with us in 2024. Yes ,verse 1 (NLT) could be so very true, "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me." But then verse 8a (NIV) also is true, "From the Lord comes deliverance." NLT, ""Victory comes from you, O Lord." Yes, both can be so true! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning 




Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call  out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.  It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...
Post a Comment
Read more